The golden stairs has a complelling power. The women form an endless chain, winding down the stairway. F.G Stephens said the women "troop past like spirits in an enchanted dream, each moving freely, and in unison with her neighbours': What is the place they have left, why they pass before us thus, whither they go, who they are, there is nothing to tell".

Although the girls all look alike it is said they were all different models. Their clothing, Fortuny-style dresses, echos Bunre-Jones' fascination with patterns and repetition.